Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

I love Tom Cruise and his grin. Face it, he may be insane, but he has a screen presence, and his new film Edge of Tomorrow, makes great use of that good-natured, loveable screen presence. Basically, he is fighting time-manipulating spaghetti aliens who have invaded Europe in what is pretty much a repeat of the Second World War. And Emily Blunt plays a jacked supersoldier who has to guide Cruise through his repetitive ordeal. Edge of Tomorrow is basically a video game. No, it is a video game. It follows the principles of a video game exactly. Except, it is not a video game, despite what I just said, it is a movie, and as a movie, it wears thin very quickly. I will say that I enjoyed the film's sense of humor, and Bill Paxton's supporting performance was quite amusing, but at just under two hours, I really could not wait for game over. The action in here is not even really all that thrilling or impressive, because like a video game, it carries no risks or consequences. No matter how many people die, or how many times Tom Cruise fails, it is all okay, because he gets another life. Even once he loses the ability to respawn, the emotional involvement is gone, because we have become so used to the game of no-stakes. I will not even get into the absolutely sickening militarism present throughout the film, because it just is not worth it. What is more important is to discuss why films like this are becoming more frequent. Psychologists often point out that violent behavior is stimulated by our culture's obsession with the gory details of violence. We do not want to see the consequences of violence, or at least not in any manner that will lead to introspection, just the gruesome aftermath. Action movies are a conundrum, because they ultimately turn violence into entertainment, and on some level, no action movie can ever be truly ethical, but there are plenty that come close. A more tongue-in-cheek, satirical approach to this material might have salvaged the film a bit, but it still would have been a seemingly endless repetition of cold, unfeeling action. At least it has Tom Cruise's grin.